There have been studies showing that meditation not only lowers blood pressure but also can amp up your immune system and improve your ability to concentrate. Those who meditate can choose among a wide range of practices “What they have in common are a narrowing of focus that shuts out the external world and usually a stilling of the body,” says Charles L. Raison, MD, clinical director of the Mind-Body Program at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Raison participated in a study that indicated that meditation improved both physical and emotional responses to stress. People who meditate regularly have less activation of their immune systems and suffer less emotional distress when they were put in a stressful situation. Stress reduction could be the key to meditation’s beneficial effect on health. “We know stress is a contributor to all the major modern killers,” Raison points out. “It’s hard to think of an illness in which stress and mood don’t figure,” Raison says. Science hasn’t yet pin pointed exactly what happens in the meditating brain and the immune system, but a study at the University of Wisconsin indicated that there is an increase of electrical activity in parts of the left frontal lobe when people practice meditation. This brain area tends to be more active in optimistic people.
Perhaps it is because meditation helps to relieve stress and less stress can make you optimistic and being optimistic can make you happy! Meditation can bring you inner calm and a general feeling of well-being. Learning meditation can give you new tools for dealing with stress, anxiety and problems. Meditation can help you overcome negative states of mind such as anger and jealousy and cultivate positive states of mind such as patience and love.
On Monday October 1, 2012 we will be offering a free class for those wishing to learn how to meditate. The class will be hosted by Torin Lee and will run from 7-830 pm. Registration is required. You may register online at our facebook page events section or by calling the center at 860-467-6518.
